In what appears to be a response to President Donald Trump’s supposed defense of Vladimir Putin and Russia regarding accusations of election meddling by U.S. intelligence, ex-FBI Director James Comey subtweeted his former boss on social media. Though Comey only made his Twitter account official this past week, the Obama-era appointee has frequently used the account formerly named for the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr to troll the Trump administration. However, this time Comey quoted Charles Spurgeon, a British Baptish preacher from the mid-1800s, to get his point across.
“If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it,” Comey tweeted. “But if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly; it is light as a feather and a breath will carry it.” Taken from Sermons delivered in Exeter Hall, Strand, during the enlargement of New Park Street Chapel, Southmark, a collection of Spurgeon’s religious orations published in 1855, Comey’s quote concerns the difficulty of spreading true stories when compared to the ease with which lies can travel “round the world.” It seems the lie in question here is Trump’s defense of Putin against U.S. intelligence officials past and present.
“If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly; it is light as a feather and a breath will carry it.” Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1855). pic.twitter.com/YZf4q88wyi
— James Comey (@Comey) November 11, 2017
“I mean, give me a break — they’re political hacks,” Trump told the New York Times of former CIA Director John Brennan, ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Comey. “You have Brennan, you have Clapper, and you have Comey. Comey’s proven now to be a liar, and he’s proven to be a leaker, so you look at that. And you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that.” Of course, there’s no direct proof that Comey’s tweet is an indirect response to Trump’s comments here, but don’t tell Twitter that.
Subtweet! https://t.co/v4Z8aLm4O6
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) November 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/ChrisCJackson/status/929372348662329344
folks, we've got a subtweet https://t.co/3HvJZWCOVb
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) November 11, 2017
Hard to top this. https://t.co/MGixyMWXcw
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) November 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/qjurecic/status/929373503358369792
omg Jim Comey is doing the ol' Pete Souza, but with words instead of pictures https://t.co/aaZTlwGa5m
— Elise Hu (@elisewho) November 11, 2017
These ongoing notes from the wilderness, as it were, are pretty interesting https://t.co/tCAdYuOFoH
— Mark Follman (@markfollman) November 11, 2017
Former FBI boss dropping subtle hints….. https://t.co/mi5WUuva2l
— Joe Lynam (@JoeBLynam) November 11, 2017
But James, why would a KGB agent LIE?https://t.co/EEcgFI0vBU
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) November 11, 2017
Great pic, really inspiring quote!
So did Hillary kill Seth Rich or what https://t.co/zhNAZHiq2g
— Michael Malice (@michaelmalice) November 11, 2017
High speed rail pitch? https://t.co/jlg6iVm2OY
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) November 11, 2017